Policeman, uncle held for armed robbery

Despite attempts to root out corruption in the Guyana Police Force, some ranks seem intent on bringing disgrace to the law enforcement agency.
An ‘A’ Division police constable and his uncle are now in custody for allegedly robbing a truck driver and a passenger at gunpoint last week Wednesday.
The victims were driving a Canter truck in the vicinity of Cuthbert Street, Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara, around 04.30 hrs, on the said day, when a car blocked their path. Three men who were armed with cutlasses and a gun then exited, relieved the occupants of $200,000 and the keys for the Canter.
The policeman and his uncle were arrested hours later. His car, which was allegedly used during the robbery, was also impounded.
Last Thursday, two traffic ranks were placed under close arrest after being caught with money they allegedly took from a truck driver’s employee to drop a charge.
The police constables were lured into a sting operation after the employee recorded the serial numbers and handed the information over to a police sergeant.
It is alleged that a 44-year-old contractor’s supervisor was driving a Canter in the vicinity of Industrial Site, Ruimveldt on Thursday, when a police constable stopped the vehicle for an alleged traffic violation.
The rank reportedly then solicited $15,000 to forgo the charge. The driver contacted his supervisor who wrote down the serial numbers of some bills. He then notified a police sergeant at the Ruimveldt Station of the incident and gave him the serial numbers.
The contractor then went to the Ruimveldt Station where he handed over $10,000 to the traffic rank, who allegedly gave another traffic rank the cash.
The two ranks were later searched and police retrieved the cash, with the corresponding serial numbers, in the pockets of one of the culprits. They were both placed under close arrest.
The incident occurred on the same day that three detectives from the Bartica Police Station were charged for allegedly stealing $500,000 from a gold miner.
This reportedly happened after the three ranks had arrested an Operation Manager accused of stealing gold from his father’s mining business.
The son purportedly had $1.2M in his possession, which he obtained from selling gold to his father. During his arrest, the man allegedly handed over the money to the detectives. However, $500,000 was said to be missing when the cash was checked at the station.
Two of the ranks were released on $70,000 bail each, after appearing in court. An arrest warrant was issued for the third.
Last month, Police Corporal Derwin Eastman and Constable Jemison Williams were remanded to prison for the murder of Godfrey Scipio known as “Saga”.
Scipio, 58, was shot dead shortly after leaving a Kitty hotel. He was also robbed of a gold chain. Aubrey Bobb, 26, of Kitty, was subsequently charged for his murder and remanded to prison.